A carbon-carbon panel design concept for the inboard limiter of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT)

The limiter region of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) must withstand nominal heat fluxes in excess of 10 MW/m² in order to protect the vacuum vessel from the plasma energy, and it must be designed to be remotely maintained. Because of its ability to meet the thermal and structural requirements, carbon-carbon composite material was selected over bulk graphite materials for the limiter design. The structural design concept consists of carbon-carbon composite panels attached to the vacuum vessel by a hinged rod/retainer concept. Results of the preliminary design study to define this inboard limiter are presented. The design concept is described along with the analyses of the thermal and structural response during nominal plasma operation and during plasma disruption events